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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · lean · fork · cold · bay · squash · pass · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. net — in sport
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — a permit
  12. net — for catching
  13. fork — in a road
  14. chest — a box
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. squash — to crush
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. lean — to bend
  22. lean — thin
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — the sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com